IMPOUNDED DRUGS UP IN SMOKE

TPD discusses its methods disposing seized illegal drugs

"The biggest amount I've ever seen impounded was when we confiscated a kilo
of crack," said Audie Rowel, a narcotics investigator for the Tallahassee
Police Department.

The first thing people smell when they walk into the storage unit is
marijuana. Rows upon rows of bins stacked high to the ceiling filled with
coke, ecstasy, crack, prescription drugs, bongs, crack pipes, heroin and
pot are all here in the TPD's holding unit for impounded narcotics.

Any drugs or paraphernalia that are found within the city limits are
brought here. Recently, the Narcotics Interdiction Team uncovered 25,000
pills of ecstasy, whose new home has become this holding cell.

Any and all types of drug paraphernalia imaginable are probably somewhere
in this room. Within the confines of these walls, they even have a guitar
that was fashioned into a bong. But this is only a halfway point for these
seized drugs. There is a long process that must happen in order for the
drugs to make it to their final destination.

"First, we have to fill out a chain of custody form," Rowell said. "That's
basically a documentation of who is in possession of the narcotics at all
times before it gets impounded. If I'm the officer who discovers them, then
I initiate the form, until they make their way down to the impound room,
where a judge has the ultimate decision of when they'll make their last stop."

Once the narcotics have made it to the storage unit, a court order must be
issued in order to destroy the drugs in question. Narcotics that are
attached to a case as evidence get more shelf life than others with no case.

"Drugs with cases tend to stick around longer than those without cases,"
property and evidence supervisor Patti Wallace said. "The oldest case we
have on the shelves right now is from 1996. Drugs with no case file are
immediately sent to the incinerator. If I were to find a couple of pills or
something on the ground, those would be in and out of the system
immediately. They'd make it to the incinerator quickly."

When the narcotics have been given their court order, an officer must
escort them to their last stop: an incinerator in Havana, Fla.

"The smoke from the incinerator is filtered, so you can't actually smell
the drugs being burned. Of course, we do this so that we don't have people
hanging around getting high off the fumes," Rowell said.

Since this is a college town, the drug scene here isn't as severe as it is
in other big cities. Marijuana is what comes through their doors most
often. There is no 'drug season' in Tallahassee like there's a robbery
season. Drugs are only less of a problem when the students go home during
their breaks.

So, to answer the question that's burning a hole in some minds: Has
anything ever been stolen from the TPD's narcotics holding unit?

"Nope, we've never had any drug thefts from the station," Rowell said.